Quote:
Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
they won't tell you. the way you could figure it is to see who has the most profits, and whether they're integrated cos. (i.e., have crude oil) or don't. ExxonMobil has the most crude of any company, so they're the most profitable.
yes, 2c at the pump. then there's the terminals guy, who earns a bit, and the pipeline earns a bit, and the refiner earns a bit. Only about 30% of the price of gas is determined by refiner and retailing costs and profits, the rest is taxes and crude oil. it's a very competitive industry. the reason prices are where they are relates to the high price of crude and the fact that demand for gasoline is highly inelastic, not because of a lack of competition.
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That's only partly true, because of the large number of integrated companies. ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, etc. earn money on both the upstream and the downstream, so they're largely indifferent to where the profit comes from. Independent refiners, jobbers, and wholesalers are such a small part of the market that oligopoly is a major source of market inefficiency.
